Poll shows Adam Putnam leading Ron DeSantis, but many Republicans still undecided for governor

Anthony Man

Adam Putnam, left, and Ron DeSantis, both candidates for the Republican nomination to run for Florida governor, were stationed at the VIP reception at the Broward Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner on May 18, 2018, for anyone who wanted to take a picture with both.

Adam Putnam, left, and Ron DeSantis, both candidates for the Republican nomination to run for Florida governor, were stationed at the VIP reception at the Broward Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner on May 18, 2018, for anyone who wanted to take a picture with both. (Anthony Man)

Adam Putnam leads Ron DeSantis in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, but an enormous share of the party’s voters are undecided less than three months until the primary.

The statewide poll paid for by the Florida Chamber of Commerce shows Putnam, currently the state agriculture commissioner, with 32 percent. DeSantis, a congressman from a northeast Florida district including Daytona Beach, has 15 percent.

U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Sunday that Putnam should resign....

Cherry Communications, which conducted the poll for the Chamber of Commerce, interviewed 501 Republican likely voters by phone from Thursday through Saturday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The Chamber, which paid for the poll, endorsed Putnam in May.

In January, a Chamber of Commerce poll conducted by another firm, found Putnam with 23 percent, DeSantis with 18 percent and 50 percent undecided.

As the latest polling was taking place, Putnam was enduring what may have been the worst wave of attention he’s received since he got in the race in May 2017. The Tampa Bay Times reported his office, which is responsible for issuing concealed weapons permits, hadn’t followed up on some national background checks that can disqualify some applicants.

Putnam waited for hours after the story broke on Friday and politicians around the state reacted to start explaining what happened. In the meantime, many leading Democrats called on him to resign and DeSantis told reporters in Pensacola that “it seemed like [Putnam] wasn’t minding the store when we needed him to be there.”

Putnam said an agency employee failed to make follow-up inquiries about 365 applicants who were flagged by the Department of Law Enforcement as possibly ineligible for weapons permits February 2016 to March 2017. The state ultimately revoked 291 permits and fired an employee.